Oregon Sustainability Center contractor chosen

Gerding Edlen Development has chosen Skanska USA as the general contractor for the Oregon Sustainability Center, a planned $72 million structure that would be the world's tallest building to meet the Living Building Challenge. (Rendering courtesy of GBD Architects)

Gerding Edlen Development has chosen Skanska USA as the general contractor for the Oregon Sustainability Center.

Skanska will tap a team from its Beaverton office to construct the highly sustainable project, which is slated to achieve the Living Building Challenge.

The contractor was chosen based on its understanding of the challenge and its experience with Integrated Project Delivery, according to Jill Sherman, vice president of acquisitions and development for Gerding Edlen. Integrated Project Delivery is a project delivery method that requires cooperation between owner, contractor and design team throughout the development of a project.

“We have a strong green team here in Oregon,” Johnson said. “I think that’s what was attractive to the project’s developers. Timely decision making will be necessary for a project like this. It’s so unique and has so many possibilities. Getting the right elements into the project that bring about the right outcomes will be our challenge.”

Skanska’s project director for the Oregon Sustainability Center, Steve Clem, said the largest challenge facing the project team is material selection. The Living Building Challenge has a materials red list that forbids the use of unsustainable building materials, such as polyvinyl chloride and halogenated flame retardants. During the next 12 weeks, Clem will work closely with SERA Architects and GBD Architects to develop a palette of materials that don’t violate those rules. LBC also requires materials to be locally sourced, further complicating the issue, Clem said.

“We find PVC in places we didn’t know it existed,” Clem said. “A major concern as we swap out these materials is confirming their durability and warranty. It would be counterintuitive to replace a material with something that will wear out. The goal is to take our something harmful and replace it with something that will be safe and endure.”

The $72 million Oregon Sustainability Center will be the largest project to meet the Living Building Challenge at 132,000 square feet. Schematic design for the project anticipated to be complete in February, Sherman said. Once the design and budget are finalized, the project will be voted on by Portland City Council and the Portland Development Commission before moving forward with construction in fall 2011.

One comment

It would be interesting to know the cost effects by avoiding the use of PVC in building plumbing. Are the alternatives as durable?

The PVC avoidance seems to be just another cause. There is a host of materials that condemn the use of PVC without one shred of evidence. That is not to say there isn’t evidence, but the material readily available contains conclusion statements without one reference to a study or other data in support.

Even assuming that the statements are based on research – there is little, if any, evidence that PVC used in plumbing is a health issue.